Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, who created the role of Glinda in the hit new musical Wicked, will leave that show on July 18. Jennifer Laura Thompson will replace the Tony Award nominee on July 20.

Chenoweth was nominated for a Tony for her performance, losing the prize to co-star Idina Menzel, who remains with the musical. Chenoweth won her Tony for her performance in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.

After a successful tryout in San Francisco, Wicked began previews at the Gershwin Theatre Oct. 8, 2003, and opened to the critics Oct. 30.

Chenoweth has a full plate of post-Wicked activities. The singer-actress will make her solo Carnegie Hall concert debut Sept. 10, followed by a role in the movie musical "Asphalt Beach" helmed by Peter Spears. On Jan. 25, 2005, Chenoweth will join the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall for an evening devoted to the Great American Song, and in 2006 she will star in the title role of a new opera based on Lewis Carroll's classic fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland" for the Los Angeles Opera.

Jennifer Laura Thompson received a 2002 Tony Award nomination for her performance as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown. She also appeared on Broadway as Ariel Moore in the original cast of Footloose as well as in the City Center Encores! production of Strike Up the Band. Off Broadway Thompson was seen in Tip-Toes, Little Fish and A Doll's Life and in the national tours of Carousel, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Directed by Joe Mantello — a 2003 Tony Award winner for Take Me Out — Wicked boasts a score by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman and choreography by Wayne Cilento. The creative team includes Eugene Lee (set design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Kenneth Posner (lighting design), Tony Meola (sound design), Stephen Oremus (musical director), William David Brohn (orchestrations) and Jim Abbott (dance arrangements).

The Gershwin Theatre is located in Manhattan at 222 West 51st Street. Tickets are available by calling (212) 307-4100 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.